iStock(CHICAGO) — An investigation is underway in Illinois into more than 30 cases where individuals experienced respiratory illness after using e-cigarettes or vaping, state officials said Friday.

One such case involved an individual who allegedly recently vaped before being hospitalized with severe respiratory illness. That individual, whose name, gender and age were not publicly released, died, according to Illinois Department of Public Health.

“The severity of illness people are experiencing is alarming and we must get the word out that using e-cigarettes and vaping can be dangerous,” IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in the news release.

The type of e-cigarettes used by these individuals were not disclosed.

“We requested a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help us investigate these cases and they arrived in Illinois on Tuesday,” Ezike said.

The CDC announced earlier this month that researchers were working with health departments in five states — Illinois, Wisconsin, California, Indiana and Minnesota — to investigate a potential link between breathing problems and the use of e-cigarettes, which have been advertised as a healthier alternative to smoking.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is also investigating reports of seizures among e-cigarette users.

Seizures are a potential side effect of nicotine toxicity, but a recent uptick in “reports of adverse experiences with tobacco products that mentioned seizures occurring with e-cigarette use (e.g., vaping) signal a potential emerging safety issue,” the FDA said in April.

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